14 Comments

As a system builder who has been using Soltek motherboard for around 18 months in new systems that we build, I recently found out that Soltek do not replace motherboards that fail under warranty. Instead they have to be sent back to the factory in Taiwan where Soltek repair them.

This is obviously unacceptable, particularly for a business user who can't afford to be without a PC for a month. If you agree, please send email to donald@soltek.com.tw to tell them what you think

In fairness to Soltek, their motherboards are very reliable, so its never been an issure until just recently for us. As a connsequence, we now use another brand of motherboard in the PCs we build.

No problems using three DIMM's here, even at 200MHz FSB/Memory operation. (above official specs) Not being able to go nuts on the timings doesn't really matter. Practical performance is not hurting noticeably.Reply

As I have mentioned in my KT600 reviews, I have often needed to go to a Command Rate of 2 instead of the more usual 1 for best stability on the KT600 with 2 or 3 dimms. However, I have not noticed that the 2 setting degraded performance by very much. My experience has not mirrored what Kyle is reporting at HardOCP, and I really can't explain it.

You can NOT use nForce2 type timings on a KT600. The boards were not designed to handle them, nor are they necessary for best memory performance. Those holding on to fast memory timings are always faster need to run a few benchmarks, because it is not always true.Reply

addendum to earlier post:As I see it, the DFI SiS based mobo just reviewed really lost out by not including the P4 connector. For a budget system, you want all your costs to be kept down, not just the mobo. You will still have to shell out for an overpowered PSU to run it....bh.Reply

Thanks for the good reviews, Wes! I particularly like the fact that you make an issue of the P4 power connector in AMD mobo reviews. Finally AMD fans don't have to pay for overpowered PSUs as most AMD solutions will be able to run on a good 200W PSU. Even OCd and multiple drive systems should be able to get by on a good 250Watter.. Keep drilling on the P4 - make it a big demerit in reviews of AMD mobos that lack this feature..bh.Reply

it would be nice if the reviewd item would have an alternate color on the graph, makes it much easier to follow.

and you're talking about FSB overclocking. at default voltage the CPU gets its own frq limitation before than the FSB reaches its maximum. while testing max FSB offered by mobo you should lower the mult to 8x for example and now can we talk about max FSB. the diferences in FSB results among the mobos youve tested is mainly because some mobos overvolting their CPU's and i guess thats the reason why theres different results in FSB. the 2500+ barton simply cant resist speeds over 2300MHz at default voltage.

so maybe you do some explaining, wes. or am i getting smth completely wrong.